From The Refuge To Street Gangs
by Raggazzed12
Summary: Anyone who's anybody knows who Snyder is. Anyone who's anybody knows what the Refuge is. When Tom a.k.a. Kid Blink, lands himself in the Refuge, it doesn't help him at all. And when he busts out and gets involved with gangs, nothing goes as planned. *a bit angsty* *the origin story some of you asked for* *warning: language, mild mostly* *you read all this now read the story!*
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

**Author's Note: Well, since people wanted this, here we go into an origin story! I'm glad to know that people wanted something like this! IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ: In chapter one, Blink still has both of his eyes! I repeat: BLINK STILL HAS BOTH OF HIS EYES. Sorry, but it's terribly important that you know this. I own none of the characters at all, whatsoever, except maybe a few of them that are OCs and all but other than that, I don't own any newsies, or newsies characters!**

I sat up in the back of the carriage and stared out the old, dirty window at the old, dirty city streets that I had grown up on. I remember when I was little and would go out into the street and sit there with a little group of boys. That was when I was 7 or 8 years old. Now I was 13, and life hadn't been that nice to me either way, up, down, sideways, well, you get the idea. Now I was headed off to the Refuge, fearing all that I could have feared and more.

My father had been dead since I was a baby, but my mother hadn't and she disrespected me in any way she could find. I was tortured under her, not physically, but mentally, only physically when she felt the need to apply anything. So then I had gotten out of the house and run away only to be caught by Snyder after robbing a store.

Anyone who's anybody knows who Snyder is. Anyone who's anybody knows what the Refuge is.

So being stuck in the carriage with that horrible man right across from me was not something I enjoyed. He would look at me every now and then, staring at me, watching my every move, which was rare because I was hardly daring to _breathe_ more than worrying about _movement_. But he continued to stare at me, and when I would catch his gaze, I would hold it to its full glory, making sure I didn't blink. To blink or look away would signify that I was weak, the prey, and he was the predator, and I didn't need that on my mind as well.

When the carriage finally stopped, and Snyder got out, I almost remained there forever, but he took his cane and hooked my arm with it, pulling me out of the carriage. I could almost hear my mother's voice saying "Tom, if you wouldn't stop getting into so much trouble all of the time…." And then I stopped hearing her voice and heard Snyder's as he pushed me in through the gates and into the door of the Refuge. He unlocked it with heavy keys all the time telling me how it was going to be fine here and the streets were so much more dangerous.

But I knew as well as he did that it wasn't going to be fine here and the streets were loads less dangerous than this place. As we walked in, I looked at the dark, dank walls and the cobwebs that emphasized the hallway's width. He pushed me past the cells that looked like only real prisoners were kept in and up some stairs to a large room where I was forced through the door and shoved into it. Then he slammed the door behind me, leaving me with the rest of the boys that were in here. They were staring at me, watching me.

I moved off to the side and leaned against a wooden pole that was holding up a bunk bed. No one bothered to approach me, and if they had, I probably would have told them to shove off. My attitude had changed from angry to frustrated in a matter of seconds and either way I wasn't going to be nice to anyone who tried to ask me where I came from or anything else about me.

For that first afternoon, all I did was lie in one of the bunks that was obviously unoccupied and thought about my life and what was going to happen to me now. I was scared but I couldn't show it or everyone would think of me as a wimp, which was not something I needed in the Refuge. Snyder obviously thought I was tough for a 13 year old, now these guys had to think the same thing.

Food was served roughly around 5 and I only ate a little bit but that was mostly due to the fact that my stomach was uptight about this whole thing as well. If anything, I realized nothing was going to go well for a while now until I got out of here. When I headed back to the bed I had been in for that afternoon, I fell asleep almost immediately.

The sunlight that came in in the morning was dim because the window was so dirty but at least it was enough to wake me up. I lay there for a while, uncertain of what to do. Maybe I could get out of here soon, maybe someone would come looking for me. But that only begged the question of who on earth would come looking for me of all people?

The other boys got up faster than I did, and when I finally pulled myself up into a sitting position, I noticed that I was still getting stares from people. What the heck was wrong with these guys? They just couldn't seem to grasp that I was a newcomer and was stuck in the same position as they were. It was then that a boy who was obviously older than me walked over to me.

"Hey, kid, why ya in heah?" he asked me, in a kinder tone than I thought was going to come out of him, but I still was wary.

"Stole from a store, dat alrigh' wid youse?" I asked him, almost regretting answering that question but feeling as if this guy knew my problems.

"Same ting wid me, 'cept I ain't got nothin' ta go by."

"What's youse name?" was my only question since I needed something to call him by. "I be Tom."

"Kelly, Jack Kelly." was his slow and hesitant reply. "Dat's what I'm known as. Say, youse evah been in heah before?"

"Nah. Ise jus' ran away."

"Youse are lucky. I been heah before once, an' I don' like ta go ovah it again."

"Well, I ain't been outta me house much 'cause of me old lady." I said, defensively.

"Dis damn place ain't got nothin' for nobody, bu' youse are lucky ta have only been heah dis once. I'm 15."

"13, an' don't ask 'bout nothin' too private, alrigh'?" I said and nearly turned away from him, but he grabbed my arm, holding me back.

"I ain't gonna do dat. Ise was jus' gonna ask ya if youse evah hoid of bein' a newsie."

"Yeah, shore have an' I ain't interested, 'kay?" I replied quickly and got up, heading to the window to stare out at the sky before he got anything else out that was meant to ensnare me into another life.

Sure, I had heard of newsies. I had heard them all day in the tenant building I had lived in for most of my life. They would go out there screaming at the top of their lungs trying to get you to buy their papes. I had only been approached by them once, but that time I had told them to "get da hell outta me face" and walked away. I wanted to be a thief, not a newsie. I wanted to make people feel the way I had when my childhood had been stolen from me. But I had learned the hard way and there I was in the Refuge just because I had been attempting to do the thing I had wanted to become.

When Jack had mentioned the word "newsie" I had nearly gotten up right then and there and ran to the far side of the room. I didn't like that idea, I wanted what I wanted despite the fact that it had landed me here in jail instead of becoming rich off of other people's money.

It was then that someone walked into the room and everyone filed out, and I approached that someone who was a tough looking man with a sneer on his face. He grabbed me without asking who I was and holding the back of my collar took me down the stairs and got me into a room where I was obviously going to be put to work. He told me that I would be peeling potatoes and cooking other foods, I almost was relieved and thought that this would be easy. Then I saw the man with a whip in his hands and forgot about life being easy and painless, and got to work as fast as I could. Thus began my life in the Refuge.

**Author's Note: Well, that was chapter one and I hope you enjoyed it! Thank you for reading and please, review, review, review!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

**Author's Note: Well, I'm back with chapter two! Thank you to coveredinbees14 and theater104 for reviewing! Glad to know this is good and that you enjoy it! I am excited to continue this story and slightly worried for the characters… but that'll depend on what I do here. Now I will get on with it…**

That first day was probably the start of one of the worst periods of my life, a time when hope was nowhere to be found and kids cried at night in the beds around me and men with weapons stood around. So when I had started my first job, I ended one part of my life and began another.

Sure, the man with the whip was threatening but I wasn't going to be a wimp and act like I was scared of him, because I sure as this horrible hole of misery, wasn't. It wasn't a thing I could be scared of or could pretend to. There was no way I was going to get hurt being a wimp and I couldn't be seen like that. So I walked on over to an empty stool and took up a knife and began to peel an apple that would probably not go to any of us, considering hunger was gnawing at my stomach and probably all of the other kid's stomachs in that room.

Jack wasn't there; thank God, but I was still kind of scared of being approached by someone like Jack who had a mind of their own that told them to befriend the new boy. I didn't agree. It was like being tortured, torn in two, because I couldn't decide what was best. My life was a complete mess, I had no way of telling people what had happened. I wasn't willing to do so, to anyone, ever again.

The day passed slowly and when lunchtime came we all received a loaf of bread that must've been three weeks old or so and a small glass of water and were told to continue working while eating. I had already witnessed what happened if you stopped working after one boy did, and his scream was quite loud and hysterical when the whip hit him, tearing his shirt and making him bleed. We had all looked away, and continued to peel and chop the apple we were on because we couldn't give in to the temptation of stopping. One girl had almost done so but then stopped because the man with the whip had glared at her.

When we were allowed out at the end of the day and sent into the dining hall for what I had decided to call "mush", at least, that was what the food tasted like. Everyone was silent that night, I didn't know why but because I didn't want to look like a newbie any more than I was already, I stayed completely silent and watched Jack, who was whispering to the boy next to him. I should've figured that guy wasn't going to follow the rules any more than I wanted to.

Bed was worse seeing as the boy's room was being watched by a thug with a metal chain in his hand and I couldn't dare look over at anyone or move my head once we had settled down to sleep without that man walking towards me. My thoughts as I fell asleep were not subtle at all, but violent and full of fights that I wanted to pick with the guards and other people who ran this place. This explained my violent dream that night that started with me falling down a whirlpool of darkness.

A voice echoed in my head, and it was saying stuff like "Order! Rules! Deceitful little boy! You are ungracious, uncaring, and most of all, a betrayer!" I screamed stuff back, in my head, saying "Liar!" over and over again as I fell down the darkness. My past followed me down the whirlpool and into a land of shadows where the same figure, the same silhouette, stood out to me as I walked along the darkness. Voices that I knew echoed around me, everywhere I was they were. I ran, crawled, walked, but it still followed me. I finally screamed loud enough to scare it away. My dream disintegrated and after that, I don't remember any other dreams that I had because my mind went into the mode where no dreams happened and sleep took over completely.

The sun coming over the horizon, though, when I opened my eyes, was a welcoming sight. No one else was really awake and I had time to stare at the roof of my bunk for at least five minutes before the man rang a bell and we all stumbled out of bed. I was led once again with a few others to the apple peeling room, and I began my work the same as the day before just with baking bread today. Once again, I knew only the bad loaves of this bread would be going to us. My life felt tedious, just like my past. Maybe I would get out and maybe not. Whatever the case, my mind had to switch over to the tortures of baking bread rather than thinking about my future.

The next few days went on like this. Jack didn't bug me again, in fact, no one came up and bugged me. Depression was grasping at me yet I couldn't let it take me down. At times life was hopeless and I would lie in my bed wanting to jump out the window next to me. I would bake bread and peel vegetables and avoid getting hit by a whip or a chain or anything, for that matter.

My body demanded food when I wasn't getting any and my mind demanded free time when there was none. My past lingered behind me, following my footsteps, like a dark shadow of mine waiting to grab me. And once more, depression followed me everywhere, holding onto my mind with a firm grasp, making me want to do something to get out of this position.

After a week or so like this, boys actually tried to get near me and ask me questions and try to tell me about their pasts and why they were here and how long they had been here and so on. Then I would just lash out at them and snarl in a way to scare them, if they were younger. The older ones wouldn't cry like the younger ones would sometimes but they'd glare at me. I now had a reputation that I knew wasn't going to help me. And yet, Jack still didn't approach me at all.

It was a long time before he did, but I knew the day was coming when he would, and it just so happened that that day was an evening after a day of finding myself cutting up whatever people handed me, and wanting to instead do so to myself. He approached me, wearing that hat of his with an expressionless face and I could see him just trying to find a crack in my invisible protective suit of armor that I had put up around me, my shell, my blocks. He sat down next to me as I stared out a window.

"So, ya thinkin' 'bout runnin' 'way, or what?" he asked me, grinning at my face which was probably looking whimsical and silly at the moment but it turned into a glare when I looked back at him.

"What, an' youse don't eider?" I asked him in reply, feeling remorse for those words the minute I saw a shadow pass over his face, though I wasn't sure why I felt sorry for him all of the sudden.

"Yeah, Ise do. Plent' of da time. Me boys, dey be worried for me, an' I nose dey are. Dey tried ta stop da cops when Ise was caught, bu' I told dem not ta worry, I'd be back soon. I gotta get back, bein' a newsie an' all, Snyder be worse ta me den anyone else, 'cause I been heah before." was Jack's quiet reply.

I didn't say anything else. He turned and looked at me.

"Why da youse scare da oders? What's dis tough act all 'bout?"

"Jus'… don' ask, I ain't in da mood. Maybe ya'd understand if youse was me, but you ain't an' dat's fact." I said, shaking my sandy blond hair out of my face, thinking about various other things rather than what he had asked me.

"For a kid wid such looks I ain't surprised dat ya ain't chase' by dese goils, dey always like da boys like youse. Blue eyes, blon' hair, an' a rebel… yeah, you jus' seem like da kinda fella dat gets da attention like dat. I got 'nough goils who try ta get me attention but youse got da upper han' in dat department. Ain't ya seen dem lookin' at ya?" he said, bringing up a topic that I was completely aware of but had tried to ignore. "Dey even talk 'bout ya. Ise hoid dem, during dinner an' all, when da guards ain' lookin'. Dey gonna try ya out sometime, an' dey tink youse are a precious piece of boyhood youself."

"Dat hardly makes sense. An' I know dat dey stare, I seen 'em." I replied, looking at him, trying to be okay with ignoring them.

"Then why da youse ignore dem? I ain't able ta, no boy can do dat withou' will power, I mean, dere are some beauts in dis place, ya know." he said, smirking at me.

"Yeah, Ise know. Look, can ya leave me 'lone for now?" I said. I had seen the thug looking at us, and I didn't want to attract any more attention.

Jack nodded and left, and I settled down and fell asleep. That morning, I awoke with the most brilliant plan I had ever had in this place, and that was to rebel against the thugs and other men around the area. I wasn't happy here and no one else was. I wanted to fight. My brain told me to, my fighting blood roared with the idea. But I dimissed it with the time being. It wasn't until later while peeling potatoes that I suddenly stopped and pretended to be staring at the wall. The thug with the whip spotted me and started coming over. A girl was watching me with fear in her eyes and some of the other boys seemed scared to see me, the only one who never gave in, give in. The man came over.

I wanted to feel pain, my depressed mind told me, and I had to give in. He hit me once with the whip and then I lost it. I had always been bad with controlling my temper but now it was payback time. I stood up and balled my fists, ready to punch the man, and so I did. He took the blow to his ribs surprisingly well but then had another one in his face that I delivered before he could hurt me anymore. Another man stepped out and as I hit the thug who had the whip, the man behind me knocked me down with a club. I punched him in the leg in a vulnerable place that I had used many times before on another person, which caused him to collapse. I should have guessed back-ups were coming because I had seen someone run out of the room, and the door opened to reveal a whole troop of men with two boys and Mr. Snyder in the front.

He laughed and I turned and faced the new group, feeling anger towards them. The two boys approached me and I punched one in the face and the other unfortunately punched me in the stomach, taking me out immediately. A blow to my head sent me unconscious, spiraling down a dark whirlpool into even more darkness.

**Author's Note: OH MY GOD, WHAT HAVE I DONE TO BLINK?! And he isn't even Blink yet, so… OH MY GOD, WHAT HAVE I DONE TO TOM? Well, anyway, I guess this calls for chapter three to be up tomorrow because you people will demand it, I know. So thank you for reading this unexpectedly drastic chapter and please review, review, review!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

**Author's Note: Well, I'm back again! theater104: Thank you for reviewing, and I knew someone would demand it because in my own mind _I _was demanding it! Thanks again! Alright, I know last chapter was pretty drastic but this one will hopefully be better…. Nah, it probably won't be but don't worry, I will take care of Blink and make sure he won't go anywhere you don't agree with. Alright, I'll get on with it….**

The light caught me by surprise when I saw it, and it took me a moment to realize that I wasn't dying, I was alive, and stuck in a place that seemed like a corner, a cold, small, dirty corner. When I looked up, there was Snyder, glaring down at me, with a smirk on his face. My head was hurting and I could feel a bruise on my stomach where I had been punched. Snyder was holding something in his hand, a whip. I felt myself cringe into a smaller ball than I had been in, but my mind told me to be tough. I stared back at him.

"So, look where you are now. I'll just try to hit some sense into you now, because you'll be needing it." said he, and grinned evilly at me.

A man stepped up and turned me onto my back, and the whip fell for the first time, and I felt my skin rip as it hit me, the blood began to go down my back. It hit me again, and I resisted the urge to scream. By the fifth time, I could tell that Snyder was ready to kill me with glee. He would have if he wanted to.

"How's that? You want it again? I wait until you scream, then you'll be ready." Snyder said, growling. I felt the whip fall again.

Soon, I would have to give in, soon my body wasn't going to hold up anymore. My shirt was torn in the back, and my skin felt the same way. I couldn't understand why whips were needed here, but when the whip continued to fall, I screamed, finally, and Snyder laughed and hit me again, causing me to scream again.

"Alright, I'll stop, but you had better have learned your lesson." Snyder laughed, and I was dragged up the hard stairs and into the room.

Boys all around me stared at me as the man left me in the middle of the floor, the cold, hard floor, facedown. No one moved as the man walked out of the room, and when he left, no one continued to move. I could see all of the boys staring at me, at my back, wondering what on earth had happened. It was this damn place, and I hated it. My back hurt a lot, and it was bleeding, and I wanted to scream, to tell the world that none of this was fair.

I wanted to get out of this darn place, I wanted to get rid of everything that had happened, and get rid of the world of the Refuge. My mind was screaming about pain and the tolerance I had and the problems with the world and everything and why I was here.

It was then that I noticed Jack approaching me. I wanted to tell him to get the heck out of here, to get the hell out of my face and out of my business. He leaned down, kneeled down, and looked at me, as I stared at him from one eye because the other side of my face was smashed onto the ground.

"Youse 'kay?" he asked me. "Ise know how dis is, Ise felt it."

"Don't…don't try an'…an' do dat ta me. I ain't… ain't gonna take it." I said, glaring at him from my one eye, trying to be tough.

"Ise know, it ain't fair. I'll get ya to youse bed."

"No!" I shouted, and dragged my aching, bleeding body up into a slumped position.

I crawled towards my bed, and watched Jack stare at me, watching me with amazement. I felt more stares aimed towards me, and I knew that everyone was watching me. I pulled myself into the bed and lay facing upwards, letting my back bleed into the sheets, and it comforted my back. But it didn't comfort me. I was really angry at the world, and it was a stupid deal with life that I had made, somewhere, something had gone wrong. I had gone down the wrong path and was stuck here.

I lay in my bed until I fell asleep and then, when I did, I had dreams that were dark and shadowy and dangerous. My past was still following me, still haunting me. My dreams seemed dark. I only remembered that when I woke up. That morning, I woke up and stayed in bed. When the man came in to get us, everyone got up and left, or nearly did when Jack yelled at the man.

"He ain't goin', da youse 'spect 'im ta?" he said, angrily, pointing at me. The man nodded.

"Yeah, he is. Don't you try and say anything, now get out. And you too." was the man's reply, as he looked at me.

I stood up, feeling my scabs almost break apart and I felt a little bit of blood go down my back. I stood up straight, then, and walked, or struggled to, to the door and down to the area I worked in. That day, I sat and peeled apples and didn't stop at all. The man with the whip was watching me with pleasure. I at some point had to tear off my shirt completely so I could feel a cold draft coming in from the corner and I would shiver. I saw two girls watching me, with pity and interest in their eyes, because I knew they were looking at my body, pitying the bloody cuts on my back. The boys just looked at me like I was one of them now, in fact, I knew they thought of me as that. I had endured the test that everyone had gone through. They had all been injured by whips and stuff, I knew as well as they did. The boys were the ones who did, not really the girls who didn't dare stand up for themselves because they couldn't lose their shirts or anything else that they would most likely lose.

At the end of the day, I stumbled back to bed after a quick dinner, making sure I was there before the others. I didn't fall asleep fast, but when I did, I wondered what was going to become of me now.

The next week, I was recovering and working at the same things. My depression took a nosedive and I was trying to hurt myself more than ever now, but I couldn't. It was horrible. The world was tearing apart. Once my back healed enough not to bleed anymore, I wanted more pain, I wanted to do something, but I couldn't. Jack continued to try and help me but I wouldn't let him. He would come over, but the minute he tried to sit down I would glare at him and then ignore him if he continued and sat down, but he would leave when he saw I wasn't listening to him.

Then came the night I was in the room and only a few boys were present, the rest were eating. These guys were known for being tough, and once they saw I was alone, with them, they began to talk to me, threaten me with a fight. I didn't take notice of them, or willingly do so, until one stepped up right next to me.

"So, you are gonna ignore us, eh?" he said, with a thick German accent.

"An' Ise gotta pay 'ttention to ya?" I replied, and he grinned, and pulled out a switch blade.

"Yeah, you gonna."

"Ya tink so?"

"Yeah, yeah I do. 'Cause if not, this might hurt." was the sly, cold reply. "You ain't got a switchblade, do you?"

"Nah, but ya know, Ise ain't a coward ta hide behin' one eider."

"Watch it." said the boy, coming up and putting his knife across my neck. I grimaced, not wanting to give in but feeling the cold sharpness of the knife.

"Alrigh' den, I'll fight youse." I said in frustration, glaring at him with an extremely strong dislike and felt my body begin to tingle with excitement of something active.

The boy moved away from me and stood across from me. He still had the switch blade but I didn't care, I wanted to hurt him, I wanted to fight. I punched him in the upper lip, making a tooth fall out and his mouth began to bleed. He tried to stab me but I moved away with speed that wasn't going to last forever but in that moment, I had to believe I could get away from him. I hit him with force on his knee, and he bent down. Taking the advantage, I hit him over the head, or tried to, but I couldn't because he came up, hitting me straight in the jaw. I fell over, and taking his chance, he came and stood over me, ready to plunge the knife into my arm. I kicked him in the stomach and he fell right on top of me, but the knife moved towards my face as he landed on top of me. Suddenly searing pain went straight through my head, and I for some reason was only seeing out of my right eye. The other one was…I lifted up a hand and felt a bloody eyesocket, but for some reason, my eye wasn't there. I suddenly went unconscious.

The first thing I detected was noise. My head was going through sheer pain and I couldn't understand how I was alive. When I opened my eyes, and then I realized, it was only one eye that opened. I couldn't seem to find the other one. The light above my eye was bright and I flinched, trying to get away from it. A voice, Jack's voice, spoke above the rest, and I tried to listen to what he was saying.

"Tom?" he asked. Well, that was helpful. I didn't know why he would say that, but I groaned as my head gave another shock. "Tom, you are awake, right?"

I couldn't nod. I couldn't feel my other eye. Why couldn't I? Even though it had only been bloody, surely it wasn't ….gone? There was no way… no way. It had to still be there. I couldn't have lost it. Why would I have lost it? There was no possible way…and then it hit me. The knife had taken out my left eye, and now I only had one, all because that stupid oaf fell on top of me. My anger and pain mixed as one, and I let out a scream of ignorance, a scream that had pain in it and anger, one that attracted most everyone's attention because most everyone was in there. I knew they were. I saw Jack look around, but for some reason, I couldn't tell if he was close or not, he seemed far away…

But in the next minute, I decided he was closer to me because I could almost hear him breathing. My sight wasn't giving me much help, in fact, I couldn't tell if anyone was far away or close. When another boy appeared next to Jack, I was quite sure he was up in my face. This was going to have to take some getting used to, and I started to become quite afraid for what was to come. But that wasn't the worst of all that I was feeling. Pain raced through my head, my brain seemed to be rebelling against whatever had happened, my skull screaming. I found that I could see someone's face and then, all of a sudden, I couldn't.

**Author's Note: Well, SUSPENSE, people, SUSPENSE, has come your way! Alright, well, that was chapter three, and I hope that you enjoyed it and please, take the time to review because I am grateful to the people who do but there aren't many that do so… so please the others of you,(and the ones who have, do again) review, review, review! **


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

**Author's Note: I'm back! Yay! Except for the fact that only one person reviewed the latest chapter…but thank you, theater104! I know, I've hurt him pretty bad…but don't worry, I'm going to get him out ...some day! Alright, well, I'll go on with the story…**

I saw light, a bright light, in my face, why was it there? Then I realized it was a candle being held, and it was a few feet away. Why had it been so close? Why was it at the proper place now, yet for some reason, I couldn't tell at first? It was the loss of my eye. I knew it, all of a sudden. And I couldn't think very easily because my head was in so much pain. I could barely see Jack's face.

"Tom?" he said, slowly. "Are youse 'wake?"

I nodded, just barely, trying to stay as still as possible. How was I going to survive like this? Blood covered the right side of my face, and I felt disgusting. It seemed to be nighttime, and everyone else was asleep. Jack was the only one sitting next to my bed, and he looked worried. I didn't want to be the result of his sleep loss considering I really didn't give a damn about what he thought or said.

"Ise know dat youse don' really wan' me heah, bu' dat's what da guard said. He don' wan' youse dyin' or nothin' on his time an' he ain't gonna watch ya, so's Ise gotta do it 'stead." Jack explained, looking at me with a concerned face. I could hardly see it but from the bit of it that I could see, I knew he was worried. "Youse gotta lotta blood on youse face an' all. Dey migh' make ya work tommorro' bu' ise can' prevent dat."

I only nodded again, then felt myself drift off to sleep. When I awoke, the pain in my head had gone but the hole where my eye was still had a lot of blood on it. The sunlight was alarming to feel and see and I wasn't sure about whether or not I wanted to stay in the now or if I wanted to just go back to sleep. But then the guard yelled at us to get up, and I opened my eye all of the way. God help the man who might try to drag me out of bed, because if they did, I wasn't going to be kind to them.

No one came to my bedside while everyone was filtering out. Not even Jack. Then everyone was gone, and I thought I was alone. But the guard appeared next to me, looking not at all concerned for me. He even looked a little grossed out but his face rarely had an expression, and I knew that he had seen similar horrible things. I could see him but I knew now that my depth perception was basically gone and I was going to have to adjust to this new, strange way of seeing the world.

"They say you got this way in a fight, eh? Well, the boss still wants you to work." he said. I froze, ready to murder the man if he came over and tried to drag me out of bed, but his bearded face stayed where it was. "I will let you stay here today, but I can't promise you anything about tomorrow. Mr. Snyder says a one eyed boy would be completely useless, and you might as well start packing 'cause you'll be out on the streets by tomorrow, if you're lucky, maybe two days from now."

The man moved away and I stared at the roof of the bunk. So I was being thrown out because I had one eye. Actually, since I'd wanted to escape this damn place since I'd gotten here, it didn't sound bad. I wanted very badly to do so now, and the streets weren't terrible, I knew how they were. I had lived on them for a short time. If you knew where to find food and people who would give you money, you were fine. But now I might be stalled by having one eye and people might not take it so kindly, in fact, some might be scared. I didn't know how I would live if people didn't come near me. Then an idea dawned on me. An eye patch. That's what anyone with one eye wore, and although people could have their suspicions, most of the time, no one bothered with questioning the person and would accept them into society. That was the only way I could survive.

So as I lay there, wondering how the day could go any longer, I kept hoping that I would find material for an eyepatch somewhere here. I didn't know how and didn't want to think about how I would get one, I just needed one badly and that was all I could do for myself. Finally, at the end of the day, when my head had stopped hurting completely, and Jack came over, I was ready to ask him for a favor.

"Youse know how…ta make a ….a eye patch?" I asked him, looking him dead in the eye.

"Yeah, Ise tink sos." he said, looking slightly confused.

"Ise need one." I said before he could ask why I was asking him this. "Dey's gonna….kick me out."  
"Dey can't! Ise mean…Snyder ain't gonna do dat!" said Jack, looking amazed as I nodded. "Well, I guess if ya gotta, Ise will."

I didn't talk about anything else with him for a while, and eventually he must've given into the idea that I was going to be gone and went to make the eye patch. I was grateful that he would do this but in all due respect, I really needed to reconsider this whole arrangement. I mean, although I knew I had to, I wasn't sure why I was or what I was going to do once I got out of there. I also needed to wash all the blood off of my face, or otherwise, things might not go so well.

So I stumbled out of bed and walked to the washroom, almost gripping the wall as hard as I could because I knew the way there but everything was out of focus. No one really noticed or they just didn't care that I was moving about, but once I made it to washing room and got in there, I knew that I was going to have to be careful about anyone else being in there. A small piece of mirror hung on the wall, right above the basin full of water, and I hardly dared look in it considering I knew what I was going to see.

I reached down and cupped water in my hands, splashing it onto my face and trying to scrub off the blood that wasn't coming off easily. Once I finally got it all off, or at least, every drop that wasn't in my eyehole, I headed back out to the room and sat back down on the edge of my bed. Jack came over and handed me a brown string with a patch on it. It looked very nicely made and my confused face as I handled it tipped Jack off that I had no idea how he could have made something like this.

"Ta tell da truth, dat ain't handmade, some ol' mate of mine in heah said he had it for 'is own eye when he sold papes an' pretended to be handicappe' an' all, jus' ta get pity. Dat ain't da right way ta live, but 'least he had it." Jack explained, and I nodded, knowing now why it was like it was, all nice and damn finely made.

I adjusted it onto my head and got it at a good place, then looked at Jack, still seeing him through a strange angle but I knew he wasn't as close as I was thinking he was right then and there.

"Thanks." I said, and then looked around. Everyone else was talking in groups or pairs, the way the world here in the Refuge usually worked. I didn't want to be here any longer, freedom sounded better.

"Ya know, Ise tink dat guard is gonna get ya outta heah on a free pass. Ise aske' anudder one and he hit me wid a bat. You ain't gettin' outta heah on Snyder's orders, dat's for shore." he said, and I stared at him.

"Ya mean dat Ise getting outta heah because dat guard is gonna jus' get me out?"

"Yeah, dat's what Ise said. Ise tink he knows dat youse ain't gonna be able ta do much, and he seemed ta pity ya more dan any oder adult heah evah did." Jack said, staring at me, looking so honest I was ready to cry with relief, which of course, I never wanted to cry in front of anyone and wouldn't allow myself to.

"Ise…dat's 'kay wid youse?"

"Yep. Ise gonna get outta heah soon, Ise can feel it."

I stared at him, then propelled my legs onto the bed and lay down. Jack left the bedside, and I didn't know what to think for a few seconds. Then I drifted off to sleep, after taking the eye patch off, of course, and morning came faster than it ever had. Jack was right next to me when I woke up, shaking me awake.

"Come on, youse gotta get outta heah 'fore da oder kids leave for work." he said. I sat up, stuck the patch onto my face, and stood up.

Jack led me over to the guard. Finally, I was getting out of this rotten damn place, and I was doing it faster than I had expected to. The guard smiled at me and slowly unlocked the door. Jack was behind me. I turned towards him, looking him up and down, and then he spit into his hand and held it out. I did the same and shook his outstretched hand, then smiled.

"Ise wish ya luck on gettin' outta heah, Kelly." I said, and turned away, following the guard down the stairs to freedom.

**Author's Note: That's chapter four! Well, things got a bit better, but I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that freedom is coming for Tom, at least for a little bit. Then it's gang time, but that's in the next chapter, and I don't want to spoil anything….'cause I haven't written it yet! Thank you for reading, and please, I beg you and implore you (even though that basically is the same thing twice) to review, because it'll make this story better! So please, review, review, review!**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

**Author's Note: I'm back with chapter five! Thank you so much to theater104 ****and**** biankies for reviewing! Theater104: Yeah, I know, gangs, it's gonna be dangerous, and thank you for the compliment saying this is a good story, I appreciate it! Biankies: it is good that he's out now! Also, here is the update! And here we go…**

When we got down the stairs, the man snuck me out the back door, and when I turned around to thank him, he slammed to the door. I turned around, looking at the end of the dark alley I was in, and then looking back at the Refuge. I could see the window of the room that I had been in, and I could see movement from there. Then I turned back around and started walking out of the alley. My eyesight couldn't get used to it fast enough, so I was feeling the wall. Even in the bright sunlight, my depth perception was horrible. I stumbled out of the alley and looked around at the busy streets. People were moving around in the way that I knew New York to be like.

But the one question that I hadn't considered was the question of: what was I going to do out here? How was I going to continue living? By pickpocketing again? I couldn't do that again. It wasn't worth it. I couldn't afford to do so. It really wasn't, I knew how that worked, and chances were that once Snyder heard about how I left, I wasn't going to last stealing things from people. So then I realized, I was going to have to do the one thing I have refused to do for years. Become a beggar. Not because I only had one eye, not because I couldn't steal or anything, but because the other two options would end up with me being put back into the refuge.

I stepped forwards, looking around. Recognizing where I was, I set off down the street. Some corner around here would do. I could sit down and beg there. It was going to be a harsh life, but I was getting used to that type of thing and I couldn't figure out any other way of life at all. I settled down on a street corner and sat there, wondering if I could think of something other than the hunger settling in my stomach.

The night passed by quickly, as I somehow managed to fall asleep. Maybe it was the sound of familiar traffic, the carriages and horses, maybe it was the knowledge that this was now my life, but I fell asleep and stayed that way till about 6 in the morning. Around that time, a louder noise than before burst through my head and I woke up, only to see a boy standing over me, holding a metal pipe and yelling into it. I glared up at him with my one eye and he backed away, slowly. It was only one boy, one lousy boy who obviously wasn't dangerous. He couldn't be any trouble. Something in the back of my mind, though, was screaming to me that this would be bad if I got into a fight with him.

He was holding a loaf of bread in one hand, obviously stolen, and I wanted that one piece of bread bad enough that I was ready to fight him. This boy wasn't terribly skinny and he was wearing decent clothes, and looked about my age, but I couldn't tell if he was really ready to fight or not judging by the fact that he had no muscles. I was flexing my wrists and arms, showing him that I was ready to kick his damn butt if I had to.

I launched at him in the next second, and caught him in midair. We landed on the ground, rolling on top of one another. He tried to get me down under him but I forced him down instead and started to punch him in the stomach. I got a punch in the arm for that but he was too weak and when I got off of him, grabbing the bread, he ran off. I didn't know who he was but I felt almost guilty, but not really because he obviously had a home. I didn't.

I settled down to eat the loaf of fresh bread with all its goodness when I heard shouts coming from some direction. I ignored them and finished off half the bread by the time the noise was coming closer to me. It sounded like a group of boys shouting their heads off, probably around my age. There was a very distinct reason why stealing from that boy had been wrong but I had chosen to ignore it at the time. Now I was going to pay, or something like that unless all I figured out in the short time I had ended up with between this and the boy was wrong.

I stood up, watching the group of boys come closer. In the front of them was a boy who seemed older and bigger than me, the leader. It was a street gang, that was for sure, and they were set on destroying whatever came in their way. I was standing right in between them and the rest of the world. They came to stand about 5 feet in front of me. I could see that the leader thought I was a lousy excuse for a human being but I just glared at him more and hoped that having one eye scared them. Indeed, some of the younger boys looked like they were ready to run and hide.

"So, you're da one that insists on stealing our soup bread, eh?" he said, scowling at me. He looked to be about 14 or 15 years old and was dirty with decent enough clothing that didn't appear to be worn through at all, except at the knees.

"What's youse gonna do 'bout it?" I asked, staring at him.

"You think you're so tough, don't ya? A 10 year old with one eye ain't gonna make it far, that's for sure." said the boy.

"Farther dan youse is, Ise bet. Ise survived lots worse dan youse has."

"Right. You are living on da streets. We has houses." another boy started up. I wanted to run at him, get my revenge for what he had said.

"An' why should Ise care?" I asked, ready to hurt some people, my fingers folding into fists.

"'cause in a minute, you won't want to be alive." the leader growled. "Also, me name's Alex, or just Lex, in case they ask who did dis to ya."

He stepped forward and the boys circled around us. Looking around, I spotted the one boy I had attacked. He was grinning as Alex came closer to me, obviously wanting me to get the revenge I needed. I, of course, was thinking otherwise. I jumped up in the air as high as I could muster even though I really couldn't see Alex all that well from in the air, I managed to kick him. He fell down the same way I did, and I crawled over to him. I found that when I was fighting, my sight was almost normal. Maybe that's what had scared the kid I had beaten up so much.

Alex was trying to break free of my grip on him, I was holding him down with my legs and arms, and he didn't seem to be getting anywhere. I started punching him in the face, trying to aim as well as I could. He kept grunting so I knew each time that I'd hit my mark. But then things turned for the worst, and I found myself the object of his fists. I could barely see, my stomach was being pounded, and my brain had turned to mush in just a matter of seconds.

Boys were cheering him on, and I couldn't do anything, it was as if he had become more powerful with my beating I had given him. I cried out as he punched me in the nose, feeling blood go down my face. He laughed. I saw his hand headed towards my face again and grabbed it, with one last attempt at stopping him. Alex kept coming closer to my face and I would pull his hand back.

"Yeah, that's right kid, blink!" yelled some boy. I looked at the direction the voice came from. They were making fun of me, knowing I was weak, I couldn't last as long as they could because I had one eye.

And it wasn't like I was going to last much longer anyway, I could already see black spots, which signaled that I was going unconscious. With one last heave I pushed Alex off my chest and lay there, in a limbo between conscious and unconscious.


	6. Chapter 6

** Author's Note: OMG I'M SO SORRY FOR LEAVING YOU GUYS FOR SO LONG! Alright, well, after that apology, which trust me, I am sincere in, I would like to acknowledge all who have reviewed since then.**

** biankies: You're very welcome! Here's your update, I apologize for it not being sooner...**

** theater104: I thought it was clever too! Thanks! Also here's your update, as I said above, I apologize for it not being sooner.**

** Big Glasses Girl Fanfic: Thank you and it's nice to hear you're enjoying it! Here's that update, about a month later, sorry... but here it is for all of you and everyone else!**

** Alright, well, here we go, and since he's kinda on the ground half dead now, I just… we'll see what happens.**

I opened my eyes after going unconscious, and looked up into the sky. I was still on the ground with my back against the pavement, my face seemed to still be bleeding. My stomach was in so much pain and I could hardly move. My one eye could hardly see, and once it focused, I could see no one around me. I appeared to be alone, wondering what could have happened to the boys, but I also didn't really care.

Moving my hand slowly over my forehead, I groaned and could hardly lift my arm. I felt the blood on my nose, it was sticky and when I put my hand down in front of my face, I saw red. It might have stopped bleeding, but there was a lot there, and I knew it. Screaming in pain as I tried to sit up, I flopped back down and lay there. My stomach probably had so many bruises on it that it was unrecognizable and I coughed up blood. If only I could have been accepted by those boys then my life would not be headed down the drain like it was now.

I decided I had to do something, but I really couldn't move. It hurt too much, and I was too scared to move, in case someone was around that I didn't want to see, like another one of those boys from the gang. Slowly, I rolled over to my side, my face felt warm against the ground. I struggled to sit up, and only managed to do so very slowly. Then I looked around for something to lean against, because I felt terrible, my entire body was aching.

Then I saw movement out of the corner of my one eye. A figure was standing there, obviously looking at me. It looked like a boy, and I didn't know if he was far away or really close, because my vision was acting terrible at the moment, completely off center and off balanced.

"Hey, was that the railroad gang?" asked the boy, but I couldn't reply, but I also couldn't believe that he had seen them and not stopped them at all. "Oh, yeah, you …"

I looked at him, just barely able to move my head. He seemed to be wearing faded clothing that I could tell was extremely old.

"Guys come out, they've gone." he said. "Even if you wanted to beat them up."

A large group of boys around my age, and older, and younger. They all grouped around me. It was yet another gang, and I couldn't understand why these people couldn't leave me alone. I was sick of gangs, and other boys, picking on me because of my eye. It was then that I saw the leader of gang. He was large, buff, and at least 14 years old. Scars seemed to be all over his ravaged face, but he smiled at me, or at least, I think he did, it might have been my mind playing tricks on me because I was a mess and wasn't exactly seeing straight.

"So, this was their victim today?" he said. I stared in shock at him, but knowing he obviously thought I was weak. "I heard it all. Kid, blink. Ha! Now I know why they said that."

"Why?" I gasped out, scared, but knowing I had to talk. He smiled at me for real this time.

"Because that's your name. Kid Blink. Welcome to the gang." was his reply, and I stared hard at the hand he extended to me.

"But whys…" I trailed off, and realized what had just happened. I was part of a gang now, I had a chance of surviving, and I had a future. Of course it was a gang, but I didn't care, I had people who wanted to help me.

"You just hurt Alex a lot. We're their rivals. Downtown 'hattan's ours. They got Uptown, we got Downtown. Get it? Good." he said. "The name's Blackie, now take my hand. We'll get you back to our shelter.

I grabbed his hand, and he put that arm around my shoulder, and a boy came up underneath the other one. It was weird, the fact that I had been found and named in about 15 seconds. I knew nicknames were popular among gangs, but I also knew who else they were popular too, and that was Newsies.

We began to walk down the street, me swaying from the boys' shoulders, looking around, wondering where they were taking me. _Kid Blink? What a strange name… but it works I guess. _ I thought, knowing that it was a stranger nickname than most, but at least it was something I could use for the rest of my life if I felt like it.

The corners flew by as we traveled like a pack of wolves, one giant group of boys, all together, looking very similar in the fact that we were all raggedy and lost looking in a way. Noone noticed us, but that's because it was the city, and strange things like that are normal and often overlooked by anyone who lives here. I had no idea why Blackie had decided I was anything but a piece of dirt, a load, a burden.

But instead they had just taken me in… I shook my head slightly, and then looked at Blackie. I was feeling slightly better but I was still in a good bit of pain, my head seemed to have stopped bleeding and I could think more clearly now.

"You feeling better?" he asked.

"Yeah." I replied.

"Good. We're almost dere." Blackie replied, looking across the street.

I looked across as well, and saw nothing but a rundown building, no doubt their "shelter". We walked over the street, I moaned a bit as Blackie bumped my side, but didn't want him to notice. I had to be as tough as I had been in the Refuge here as well. Otherwise I would never be accepted into their gang, into anyone's group, into society at all. Walking in, I could already tell how old this place was and how much usage they had gotten out of it before it became abandoned and then the gang's house. Obviously a lot, there was no wallpaper left on the walls and cobwebs hid in the corners. The roof seemed to be falling down and a few cots were placed here and there. An open window had a giant spider web neatly knit across it and it let in plenty of light. There was a counter at the far end of the large room where the boys seemed to have put a bunch of their stuff. The floor, though, was surprisingly clean and I figured they spent time cleaning it at times, which was a good thing and I wasn't complaining at all.

Blackie and the boy took me over to one of the cots along the wall and put me in it, then Blackie pulled up a chair and sat down next to me, the boys seemed to go and hang out in smaller groups, talking and doing only they knew what on the sides and in the corners.

"So, Kid Blink, how old are you?" he asked me kindly.

"Ise ain't gonna tell youse dat." I replied, trying to keep up my pride and distance from him.

"Okay, well, if youse ever decide you wanna, go ahead. We ain't shy 'round here." he said, grinning, and got up and left.

I stared up at the ceiling, wondering what was going to happen to me now. My vision was still terrible but my good eye seemed to have gotten slightly better. I was thankful for that, I couldn't stand the idea of not having any grip on the world. But I didn't have any grip on my life, I was still hurtling through darkness because I didn't belong anywhere, at all. I figured at that point in time, that I never would.

**Author's Note: Well, sorry if it seemed a bit rushed, but there's chapter 6! I promise the next one will not be that rushed and will come sooner! Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed, and please, review, review, review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Ah, what a relief, I'm not dead yet. Oh, wait sorry, I mean, ah, what a relief, I'm updating again! Hooray! And also again, I apologize for leaving you all so long. Only three months. It isn't that bad.. I have some other fanfics that I have to update that are even worse, such as my other Newsies story that is running right now... yeesh.**

**HPNewsie: Thank you! I agree, I often enjoy stories that are about characters like Blink that aren't too well known. Which means maybe I should write, like, a Dutchy story or something goofy like that. I don't know. Either way, thank you for reviewing, and thanks for the compliment!**

**Biankies: No, I didn't abandon you. Aw, thanks! I'm glad to know you thought it was a great chapter! Hopefully this one is even better!**

**Sis21K: I know you only reviewed chapter three but thank you for doing so! Hahahahaha, yeah... Thank you! The eye stabbing was probably one of the greatest scenes to write, seriously, for some reason I really relished that moment. Probably because of feels but whatever. It was a pretty great scene to write, and I agree, ending on it seems a bit suspenseful but ... I'm sure you'll read on. **

**Alright, got the reviews out of the way (not that I hate replying, I love it, actually. Ironic that I know each and every person I just replied to...) I must say, I really do need to continue this story! So, here we go! **

The next few days went by slowly as I lay on that stinking bed for God knows how long. I was healing already, the other boys commented on it a lot for some reason but I didn't really care. Blackie came by every now and then to comment as well on the fact that mostly, I was healing. Maybe a few of the wounds weren't closed yet, but the guy seemed pretty convinced they would sooner or later. Most of the boys had a home so at night, I was alone. That was always fun.

In a shack like that, the night wasn't exactly comfortable. The floor creaked, or the roof made a noise like it was going to cave in, or a train drove by and that either woke me up or kept me up with its loud noise. It didn't shake the building too badly but it wasn't exactly a joy ride either. I would ly there, pondering why the hell I had allowed these guys to take me in as I should have known they had homes and I didn't, or why the hell I was even here. If there was a reason, no one was giving me the answer.

For a 13 year old who had a life like mine, I should've, I guess, been grateful there was even a roof over my head. But I wasn't as grateful as I might've been. Seriously, no one else had spent a night here in years so none of the boys seemed to understand how horrible it was. I spent a lot of those days sleeping because I was trying to catch up on all the sleep I'd lost overnight. Then I'd wake up and grumble a lot because everyone else was gone and it was night and a small plate of food would be on the table by the bed with a note saying "see ya in the morning". That only happened on occasion but it wasn't fun when it did.

After about a week, the bruises had mostly disappeared and the wounds were mostly gone too. I didn't know exactly what it was that had made them disappear so quickly, but I was glad that they had, and now I could finally walk again. Sadly, I should have realized the boys were going to take advantage of that. I would be put to work, Blackie informed me one night, the next day. I didn't have the chance to ask him what he meant and I was feeling disoriented at the time anyways because my eyesight was being weird again. I didn't have a patch anymore and it was causing some severe problems with my sight as well as I figured it would with appearance. Noone wants to see some kid on the side of the street with an empty eye socket, they'd all just turn away and not come back.

That night was easy for me to sleep through on some miraculous turn, and I woke up to the sound of shoes being stomped in the doorway. Other boys were demanding to be let in, and I stood up wearily and unlocked the door. Blackie came in first, looking around and then back at me he smiled. He was looking refreshed for some reason but I couldn't decide whether it was because he'd had a shower or was just trying to bring on a new air to the shack for a while.

"So, you ready to tackle this thing, Blink?" He asked me. Now I was permanently called Kid Blink or Blink or Kid, they all seemed to switch around periodically. I was glad for that and after all, I hadn't told them my real name so why should they have any reason not to call me something else?

"Ise guess. Whats are youse gonna make me do?" I replied, feeling only slightly scared for a moment, due to the fact that I sensed fighting was in this. Sure, I was a natural fighter, but I didn't necessarily like it all the time.

"Oh, the usual things dat dese guys do everyday." He swung an arm around my shoulder and turned me around to face the doorway looking outside. "You're gonna beg a bit, steal, and probably end up in some sorta fight by the end of da day."

"Fight?"

"Yeah, wese usually got to deal with some tough folks. But I've seen you fight, Kid, I knows you can."

"Yeah, so's do Ise, but I ain't gonna beat some guy senseless jus' yet." I shoved his arm off my shoulder and looked at him dead in the face. "So, where da youse want mes ta go?"

"How 'bout... take down the side of da park for today." He remained thoughtful for a moment so I began to walk out the door, but he grabbed me, "Also remembah, no stealing unless it's absolutely called for. I do think you'll do well, though. Come back by the end of da day with a report and anything else you found."

I nodded and walked out. The fresh air felt nice, and I inhaled deeply. A week of being stuck in an old shack had nothing on me now, I had the fresh air, and the opportunity to wreak havoc on the streets. Okay, maybe that wasn't my first approach to it. I in fact didn't want to be seen by anyone and tried to hide in alleyways while I made my way down the park, but of course, this being the busiest city in the world, I wasn't having much luck hiding from people. They were of course, everywhere. When I did show my face, people would look away if they were looking at me and if they weren't, as most New Yorkers do, I have never really looked at people while walking down the sidewalks, and they did suddenly, they'd look away as well. Yes, I still had an empty eye socket that was visible. But it wasn't the weirdest thing I've seen on the streets and that's saying something.

The park road was bustling as usual. I spotted a few newsboys and stayed as far as I could away from them. I didn't want anything to do with any of those type, not after Jack. To most people, I probably looked like one of them, wearing my usual worn down shoes and clothing that was pretty thin compared to everyone else's clothing all around me. I don't care too much for clothes, so it wasn't a major problem. I just kept my head down and headed on my way.

Finally I reached an area I knew pretty well and sat down on a street corner, trying to decide what I was going to do next. Beg or steal? It was always a problem, begging, for me. I didn't like it and I usually refused to do so. But now I was in a position just waiting for something like begging to happen, and I did need the money. If I couldn't steal anything, I could pay for it with some money, that would do some good. So to my dismay, I decided on begging. Sitting down on the ground, I stared up at every person who passed and put on an expression of absolute self pity, which wasn't that hard. I would often misjudge a person's distance, though, so I would try to reach out to someone to find that they were, instead of one foot away, almost five feet away, and they'd give me a look of utter contempt. I had my excuse, of course, but I didn't want to use that.

Eventually I realized that using that excuse was the only way I could make any money here, and I started to speak, to anybody, calling it out like a merchant does his wares.

"Wouldn't youse give money to a poor kid on da street? I only got one eye, makes it harder." I tried my best attempt at begging yet, and somebody eventually noticed me. A middle aged woman came up, and I held out a hand, hoping for some change. Indeed, I gained a quarter from that woman, which was magnificent luck on my part and I became eternally grateful.

I stood up slowly, after all, I was sure that was all I was going to get, and began to search for a place across the street that had possible food. I couldn't see the signs well at all, and almost got run over by a few boys running past. They looked almost my age, maybe slightly younger. One had brown, curly hair, and brown eyes, the other, a towhead with glasses. I realized immediately that these were newsboys, or newsies, and cursed silently to myself. They stopped right in front of me, and looked at me.

"Youse from 'round here?" asked the brown headed one. I didn't really know how to reply to that, but I nodded.

"Youse too?" I asked him and the other one.

"Yep. Newsies, an' we'se gotta a few ta sell, so I suggest youse might wanna move. Dis is our corner." Replied the towhead.

"Are youse in a gang?" The other guy asked.

"Yeah. Jus', though."

"The name's Mush. Well, dat's what everyone calls me, so Ise go by it. Dat's Specs." He motioned towards the blondie, and then looked back at me.

"Name's ... Blink. Kid Blink." I replied.

"You ain't gotta patch?" Specs seemed to be analyzing my missing eye.

"Naw. Say, how old are youse?" For some reason, I was finding these guys more to my liking.

"13. Spec's is 12." Mush held up his papers. "Wese gotta sell dese, before lunch. Guess we might see ya 'round, Kid Blink."

With that, they turned around and started screaming headlines. I decided to leave the area, and walked away slowly. Maybe them newsies weren't so bad after all.

**A/N: Aw... this was really cute! Says the person who wrote it. Hehehehe ... but really, I mean, really, just imagine him meeting Mush when they're both younger. Okay, alright, let me get this straight, I don't do Blush and many of you may know this, but in the sense of friendship, that is truly adorable. Specs just sorta appeared because... we had an interesting night at the forum last night. So yeah. He kinda is in my head. Screaming let me join. So, anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and we'll see what happens next soon, I hope I can update soon... anyways, please, review, review, review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: *blows dust and spiders off story* well that was ridiculous okay down to business: I haven't been alive for a while here and I sincerely apologize for that. This story must be completed someday. So therefore, I am here again! Yay!**

** biankies: true, true. You're welcome! Hopefully this is another good chapter for you! And um … well that's good because it's been a very, very long time and I apologize if it's seemed like I abandoned it. But knowing you, you'll be right back here reviewing the instant you've finished the chapter.**

** HPNewsie: Yay! Agreement! And yeah, and thanks!**

** And so I return after months of seemingly being dead. Here we go!**

I moved over a few streets where I was sure there wasn't any newsies, even if I found that maybe they weren't as bad as I thought, as I'd stated in my mind several times. Sometimes a person just needs to convince themselves everything's going to be fine a few more times than once. Throughout the rest of the day, I suppose I managed to get a little more money than most. I blamed it on the eye, which also scared a few people away. That's also what made things unfair. A kid with a gimp leg would've just gotten money instantly, but someone who was missing an entire eye, that apparently was just scary.

Stealing was out of the question for me. I wasn't willing to give up everything I had just to get a piece of bread. If some kid tried to tell me differently, I would've stared them down and then beaten them up because that's what thiefs do, and I know it.

By evening, I was tired of talking to people and misjudging distances. Able to find my way back but also stumbling on several street signs and corners. Things were really hard to see and everything, and as it got darker, my eyesight got worse. Finally, I reached that stupid shack. Damn shack, causing me to almost pass it as I didn't see it at first. I wasn't sure my one eye was ever going to do anything for me because it felt like I'd never be able to see again.

When I entered, Blackie was seated around in a circle with the others, no doubt sharing what they'd brought back. He smiled when I did. There was a single candle in the center of all of them, and I could just barely see the food spread out on the floor.

"Youse got back!" He exclaimed, like I was the greatest thing that had happened to him all day.

"Took me a while, ain't no way Ise gonna make it with dis eye." I sighed, and sat down on the edge of the very bed I hated to pretty major extents.

"Youse gonna be fine." With that encouraging smile, for a moment, it felt as if he really was going to tell the truth. But who was I kidding? Not being able to see correctly was seriously going to affect my life.

As much as I hated it, I admitted this to Blackie that night while I sat there on the bed, and he only told me it would get better. Sooner or later my other eye "'ight strengthen an' den youse gonna see jus' as good as if youse got two of 'em" and went on from there. After that mess was over with explaining, he wandered off to wherever they went at nights and I fell asleep. Morning would only bring more exhaustion if I pondered on things for too long.

When morning finally came, though, I wasn't exactly pleased with the results. Numerous boys had stayed over that night and I'd ended up waking up more often than I had just by the train. Damn it I wasn't getting anywhere today. Everything ached and I was extremely tired, my head hurt a lot and I almost stabbed myself in the now empty eye socket. Maybe someday I wouldn't have to deal with this crap but currently it was all I was dealing with at all.

Blackie came in almost immediately, bearing down some gifts of breakfast and announcing that people planned on a snowstorm coming. I cursed under my breath, that was just what I needed, a storm to get in my way of trying to live again. Most were pleased by this. Apparently snow gave them more begging room. I was slightly disgusted by the idea and didn't nod when Blackie asked who would be going out in the storm.

The day went similar to the previous day, just now everyone was fearing some storm and I wasn't even sure how news had travelled that fast. Apparently it was coming up from the south as reported by telegraphs and people were getting snowed under real quick. We were in critical danger as well, being that this was the city of course and that always meant snow.

It was in fact colder that day. Seemed more possible every minute that it would snow, in fact the clouds moved in late and I was suddenly forced back into the shack that evening early. There was everyone else, and most looked extremely worried.

"We'se gonna get load o' snow heah. Youse…we got some extra logs so dat youse can have a fire, Kid." Blackie announced clearly as I sat down on the bed again. Seemed to be the place I always ended up.

"Soun's great." I shrugged. It was always terribly warm in such a rusty old shack, but I figured then that it was because of the heating from the fire that was always burning and from the exhaust fuel running off the trains.

"Youse be careful, 'kay?" He looked genuinely concerned. "Ise got loads of food stock' up heah in the cupboard for ya as well. We don't need no dead body when wese get back, ain't that right boys?"

They nodded, a few snickers. Some still hadn't gotten used to me, some still hated me for taking a place in their clan. I didn't care at all. At the moment I was a little more concerned about living and making it through the storm.

Eventually everyone was gone. No one had given me an extra bit of help at all, even Blackie had simply said his goodbye and then left. I wasn't really alarmed. Things seemed a little more stressful with the extra weather. Well of course it did. Crap.

The night was really long. It was snowing hard, I couldn't hear it at all anyways, but I knew it was as at one point I peeked outside and was basically blasted by a snowball. It was really bad out there. The ground was covered by midnight and things seemed to be going downhill fast. I wasn't sure sleep was a good idea anymore, but eventually I had to give in because I was still exhausted.

Shouting, no, that was more of a crying sound, awoke me. Great. Not a night of good rest was ever found here. I might as well have just not gone to sleep. Slowly, moving from my creaky old bed, I got up and walked to the door. Someone was right out there in the damn snowbank or something. I opened the door just a crack, and looked around, and suddenly spotted a figure in the snow across from the road. Some dumbass was actually in the snowbank.

And they looked like they were struggling a lot. I couldn't make the person out at all from the doorway but they were obviously a boy. He seemed to be younger than me. Sooner or later, I made up my mind to move out and reach out to him, and started walking out of the building, feeling like the wind was going to take me all the way down to 5th street. I approached the boy and pulled him out by the hand. He was shivering so badly and that was when I saw the thing next to him. A crutch. So he'd somehow gotten stuck in a snowdrift and because of his leg, he wasn't able to get out. Made enough sense, although there had to be more to it than that; people don't just fall into snow drifts.

After pulling him out, I took him and dragged him to the shack after grabbing his crutch. Struggling, I eventually got him onto the bed and shut the door as fast as I could. He wasn't really conscious so I didn't try talking. It was only a few minutes later when I realized what the boy was. As I observed him after layering on multiple blankets and rags that for some reason were just lying around, I saw it. A damn newsboy cap.

**A/N: So not much dialogue in this chapter but there will be next time since our baby has just entered the scene and everyone knows who it is but I'm not gonna bother mentioning his name. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! See ya next time and please, review, review, review!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: And here we go, our next chapter!**

** Biankies: Well yay! Thanks for reviewing, here's your next update!**

**I'm interested on seeing where this goes with our little newsboy intruding upon Blink's rather peaceful life…**

After that, it was hard not to stare at the kid. What kinda stupid person would be out in this? And why was this kid the one who had to be? If he actually used that crutch, how the hell was it okay for him to be out here in this? Answers weren't coming until he woke up, and I knew it. But it still raised tons of questions.

If Jack was in charge of this kid, wouldn't he be out looking for him? Of course, that was, if Jack had managed to get out. Why did I care if that kid got out anyways? I didn't know. What I did know was that if he was part of the Manhattan Newsies like this kid had to be, I mean that's where I was, and I knew it, I was in trouble if I stayed around here. Sure, the snow could be going down hard, but I was not going to stay in the same region with him even if it meant abandoning this new boy and nearly dying outside myself. Maybe Queens had it better with stuff and people were always less enthusiastic there which meant more protection from Snyder or anyone coming after me.

I spent most of the rest of the night considering this, and as I did, I didn't notice how fast time was flying by. Soon the sun was coming up, or rather, it was daytime. The boy started moving. He was groaning at first, and then opened his eyes to see me, and his eyes grew wider.

"Whatsa matter? You gonna run outta heah? Far as I can see, you ain't able to do that." I knew maybe that wasn't the first impression I wanted to make on someone, especially him, but at this point I had just about lost it with the world and its decisions to go up against me.

"N-No." His voice was extremely weak.

"Alright, what's youse name?" I sighed, giving in. It wasn't like he was going to be friendly with me anyways, but I might as well not be rough on the damn kid.

"Crutchy." Coughing this out, he groaned a little. "Ise was just…just tryna get home an'…"

"An' what? Who got ya?" Now this, this is what I was curious about.

"Oscar and Morris. I don't know why they was out there in the storm but they was and they was waiting for me."

Not knowing who the two blokes he was talking about were didn't help my situation. I wanted to, almost, understand Crutchy. But I really just couldn't see a darned point in anything I said or did. It wasn't like I was getting to go and find these two guys and then bash their heads in for hurting a kid like him. The way I saw it, violence was probably those two's only response to anything. And while it was mine as well, throwing a kid into a snow bank didn't seem reasonable.

Looking over at him, I saw the signs of a possible sickness. At least, he looked half-dead. His eyes were red and a bit watery, around them were dark bags. His skin was extremely pale. It looked pretty bad, but I didn't decide to say anything about it. Maybe he would just get sick briefly. I mean, sure a snowbank can do shit to you, but he looked pretty strong in willpower.

"You gotta home?"

"Ise a newsboy. We got da lodging house." His dark eyes stared at mine, and for a moment I remembered Jack saying something about how he loved his "brothers" more than anything; or maybe that was just a memory my brain had created. It was probably the case. My mind did that a lot.

"Ya know a kid named Jack?" I acted as nonchalantly as possible, looking away at the opposite, moldy old wall.

"Oi, an' he's our leader. He got back from dat refuge, ya know. Said somethin' bout a kid with a missin' eye…"

I quickly looked at the ground, cursing in my head. Of course he would've said something to them. The dude couldn't keep his mouth shut. And he was probably wondering where I was now, along with Crutchy.

"Youse name?" He asked.

"Blink. Kid Blink."

"Oh. He said it was sometin' like Tom. Maybe you ain't that person." Crutchy had a small sound of disappointment, as if he'd been hoping to find me. What was wrong with these people?

"Well, we'se gotta get ya back to the lodging house if that's where you need to be." Avoiding the last topic at all costs, I stood up. "The snow be gone, done I think."

Outside it was a mess of white, all of the buildings were covered, but indeed, the snow was done. Nothing was falling from the sky now. Sure, no one was out, but that was just the sensible every day New Yorker who knew not to go out when the heavens fell down. I was not the sensible New Yorker, I was a stubborn mule who couldn't keep his nose out of things apparently because it felt like the newsboys were trying to drag me into their realm when I definitely didn't want to be. It was like they were everywhere. Now this.

Crutchy struggled to stand up, and I watched him before holding out my hand. He took it and then threw his arm around my neck, and it was then that I realized how tall he was, yet I felt comforted by his presence in a weird way. He was hot to the skin, no doubt had a fever. I was getting this kid home if I had to walk through a desert, though. I couldn't take care of him, not in an old shack like this anyways.

We marched outside and the first thing I realized was that the cold was more biting when it wasn't snowing than when it was. Any normal person would have told you this was stupid, but I was being honest. It hurt a lot to step out into that cold, and we moved quickly, Crutchy using both me and his crutch and telling me directions on how to get there.

"Turn right." He'd say, or "Turn left."

We finally made it to a square, and at the end of it was a building with a large sign over top of it that clearly stated "Lodging House" and maybe "Newsboys" above those two words, I wasn't completely sure. Needless to say, I took him over to there and he knocked on the door, coughing as he did so. The kid who answered the door looked older than myself, and he looked a bit confused as to why I was standing there, well who I was, and why Crutchy was leaning on me. But he invited us in, so I figured I was accepted until the leader of this crazy place actually told me to leave.

There he was, standing with some boys at the end of one of the various bunk beds in the room we walked into. I found myself being targeted by eyes, questioning eyes, penetrating eyes. My own eye seemed to be finding it difficult to focus anywhere. It had been absolute hell getting here, I had hardly been able to see and if I hadn't had another, half open, pair of eyes helping me, we probably would have been permanently stuck in a snow bank together. Silence had fallen, I knew this. Jack started walking over. He looked a little young in this place, maybe he was young but there was that familiar air he had about him, like he ruled the world. Which as he seemed to think he did, that's probably where it came from.

"So ya finally came?" He looked at me, but then turned his attention to Crutchy. "Heya Crutch. Fellas, get him onta a bed."

I let them take the skinny boy off of me and then leaned against the wall I was standing next to, staring at him lazily. Still there was silence, a few mutters here and there. It sort of felt like being in the damned Refuge again, but not the same because none of these kids wanted to fight me. Even those who might've wanted to seemed to look a little intimidated by me, probably because of the eye. That was the only thing that actually made me feel better. Crutchy hadn't commented on it at all very much, but if I were anywhere around these kids, they would. I just knew it.

"Yeah, I got outta that area an' just run straight back inta you again, huh? Is this jus' how life's gonna be?" I spit this out slowly, still watching him.

"Nah, it don't gotta. I was thinkin' of finding ya anyway, but look, Tom, ya came!" He grinned. I stiffened at that name.

"Don't call me that, 'kay? Unless you wanna find youself on the floor." I growled, and saw a few others stiffen as well, prepared to fight.

"Oi, ya got youself a name now?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Got it and gonna keep it. It's Blink. Kid Blink." I replied, crossing my arms and looking around at the others. "Ya gotta be kidding. These are those kids you was talking about? They're kinda scrawny."

"An' you don't look like them at all, huh?" Immense sarcasm.

"Look, the guys I been running around with ain't got much to do with you and that's the way its gotta stay." I glared at him, confidence still there because sure as heck I wasn't scared of him.

"Ya been with gangs, ain't ya?" Jack closed his eyes for a moment. He was acting like he was so much older than me, like he could make the decisions for me. I hated it when people were like that. You don't make my decisions. And that's when things began to pick up speed, as I became increasingly more furious.

**A/N: Well, that was chapter 9! Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed! Thanks again and please, review, review, review!**


	10. Chapter 10

"An' maybe I have. What's it ta you?" I glared at him, seething.

"They ain't the nicest people out there." Jack said in a quiet voice. I didn't get why he wasn't angry or annoyed but he said this so calmly it took all of my willpower not to hurl myself at him and punch him in the face, even if I did miss his face a bit since I wasn't sure he was standing where I saw him. Damn eye.

"An' what does dat mattah? You ain't either, in case ya ain't noticed. 'twas one of you that did this ta me anyways. Maybe not youse boy, but one of ya type." I made a motion at my empty eye socket, shoving a fist down by my side.

"He … dat wasn't a newsie."

"Then at least tell me why I got like dis an' ya did not much, eh? I mean shore, ya helped. But it ain't done nothing to improve my sight or anything." My voice was growling now, Jack was still standing there looking completely nonchalant.

"Ya lost an eye, Blink." Kelly said the name like it was a boast, scornfully almost. I stared at him now, moving my feet a bit.

"That's gonna totally make a difference in your life." I said it sarcastically, stepping forward. As I drew nearer to where I assumed Jack was in the region of, I could hear a few snickers, but when I turned in the direction of them and glared at the boys, they shut the hell up immediately. Maybe it was the missing eye, maybe it was the fact that they were used to handicap people and had just wanted to make me feel a little bad to be nice to me, or maybe they were just terrified of me, but they didn't make a single comment as I walked straight up to Jack and stared right into his face, glad I was somewhat closer than I'd thought I'd been. "Now you listen heah, Kelly. I ain't got time to do whatever ya want me to do. It ain't gonna happen. If you think I'm gonna become one of youse, I ain't gonnna give ya the pleasure. And I will fight ya. I will."

Jack appeared a little taken aback that I was so close and actually on target with his face, and he stuttered a bit before getting a word out.

"Y-Y-Ya gotta understand, I ain't mean nothing by the way but…gangs just ain't who I thought ya'd go with." He was trying too hard.

I shook my head, "Ya wanted me to go with youse, didn't ya? I ain't gonna. I told ya. So get over it, cause I ain't gonna do it. I won't be giving up that easily."

"You call this givin' up, Blink?" Now he was angry, as he looked around at the tense newsboys who were probably angered a bit too, "This ain't giving up. This is tryna make some money, get something as a reward, not jus' beg on corners all day. We got our own mouths ta feed. Tell me, Blink, da youse ever get a lot of money or just a little? Newsboys got their own ways. Gangs have theirs. An' while I ain't seen their's as fit to live, it's how it's gotta be."

"Well I gotta live like them, that's how Ise know how ta live, Jack. So get over youself. I'm not gonna be back here." I turned around, nearly tripped over a bunk bed leg storming out after not being able to judge the distance between myself and the bed-but heard not a single giggle or snicker-and walked into the freezing cold once more.

The snow was no longer going down as hard as it had been, the blizzard had succumbed to something of a lesser kind, which was fine by me. Whatever they were doing inside that house now didn't matter to me. If Jack was telling them all to hunt me down, find me, get me back because he obviously thought I could work there, I would run all the way to Queens before they found me. I was not getting caught by anyone ever again.

I would stick to my word of not going back there either, for as long as I could. I didn't want to see any of them anymore, Jack was not going to get the pleasure of seeing me there ever again. It was bad enough I couldn't find my way properly back to the shack because of my eyesight, imagine walking around Manhattan all of the time! I wouldn't survive. I had to stick to begging, because it meant staying in one place.

And indeed, the walk back to the shack proved to me that I would not survive as a newsie. It was still snowing slightly as said, and I couldn't always see through it so I'd run into things constantly. By the time I got back to the railroad tracks and the small building, I was wet and freezing all over, and I wasn't sure I wanted to go inside the shack. Maybe the bakery would prove a good place. It was open now, I was sure of it, even though very few people were around.

The bakery was the one place I'd been to so far, and it hadn't seemed horrible. The owner was kindly enough. As I entered, feeling stiff, trying to avoid hitting a table, and sitting down at the bar, I sighed and lay my head in my arms, hand feeling my empty eye socket which still had dried blood and felt horrible. It was a very strange feeling, the emptiness and the tissue all stuck in one place. A barman cleared his throat.

"Ise jus' taking milk." I said, lifting my head a bit. "Warm, if ya could."

He gave a quiet nod, and moved away. I put my head back down, fingering the few coins I had in my pocket. It wasn't much to survive on, Jack had that right, but it was the only thing he had right. I had to make a living somehow, and since I'd been stealing things before all of this, I thought of begging as a much more honest position. A little sting in the back of my head reminded me that this wasn't all I wanted, nor was it really what I thought. That sting had been there for so long I'd pushed it back for years, because I wanted to make money, but I wasn't going to do it by anyone else's rights or ways. That sting was a pushover sort of thing, and it just told me what I wanted wasn't real and so forth.

The milk arrived, and I handed the man the coin, and took a sip, feeling slightly light-headed. I didn't want to resort to last minute planning, but I couldn't go back to that shack. Not if I wanted to catch a cold that killed me. I could feel my spirits plummeting again, in the way they had in the Refuge, depression striking again where I least expected it. But I wouldn't allow that to be the end of me, I was going to make it through this. I glanced up to see the barman watching me with a kind smile on his face. He was a younger man, probably in his 20s, with thick black hair, and brown eyes, and that grin that told me he probably knew how it felt.

"You're one of those gang members, ain't you?" I was surprised to hear his voice like that, with the "ain't".

"Yeah." I nodded glumly. "What's it ta you?"

"You're new. I know some of those boys…" He had this distant look on his face now. Great, random stranger encounter time, combined with probably a story on how he had been a part of a gang himself.

"Ya were one of 'em?" I asked, still curious despite that previous warning. Damn my curiousity.

"I was a newsboy. But I knew a few of them, 'cause a few were newsboys themselves." Oh great, another newsboy. I felt like laughing and crying at the same time.

"Yeah, well you ain't missin' an eye 'cause of some stupid dude who wanted ta fight."

"You were in the Refuge too?" How the bloody hell did he know that?

"They been telling ya things?"

"I heard it from them. Look, if you're gonna get outta here, ya gotta take your own steps, I get it. Have this." He slid a small bag of what was obviously money across the counter to me. "I keep it in case people like you wander in. I find money helps at the best of times, and you ain't gonna get out of there fast without it. But you ain't gotta do it the way they say. An' the name's Fred, but they know me as Blackie. If you run inta another newsboy, they'll know who I am."

"Thanks." Blackie. Well that was a new one, but I certainly didn't mention it. Before I could put my head back down on the counter with a thump, he called to me "stay as long as ya like!" while he took my cup away, and with that, took away part of my stubborn behavior.

**A/N: Well that was chapter 10, I hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading, and please, review, review, review!**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: **

** biankies: That is the hope now, isn't it? Thanks! **

That bar was the most reassuring place I'd ever been to. For some stinking reason, I felt like all of my life's problems had been solved simply because of this kid who'd just shown up and stated he'd been a newsboy and a gang member. Funny how things change when one doesn't think too hard about them, now isn't it? I had to admit, now I was beginning to think a better path was the right choice. Ah yes, satisfying Jack Kelly. What a thing to occur to me.

It wasn't exactly a conscious decision. I just up and left when I felt like it, and soon, before I realized it, I was traversing the streets in the direction of the lodging house in Manhattan like some sort of new man despite the cold and snow. It was hard since everything was so covered, but I didn't give a crap. Who gives a shit about a little cold and a little snow? Things were already bad enough as it was.

Due to my decision, I reached the door of the lodging house, and suddenly, fully, realized where I was and what I was doing. I was doing the unthinkable. I was actually taking up an offer, refusing another one that was sure to get me fully killed by a gang member, and then I'd become some sort of weird sacrifice for a kid with no brain. Silently in my head, I started praying for a better life. I never prayed. It just isn't reasonable when you clearly have no future. There's really no one to trust. And I don't ever have faith in one thing.

My hand fell upon the door like gunfire, and then stopped after three sharp knocks. I will describe it as not really being an in-body experience, I was very unsure of what on earth I was doing. Why the hell was I here?

I had no time to retaliate and turn back around-firstly due to all the snow piles behind me that I would have fallen into and frozen to death, and secondly, a boy answered the door two seconds before I could consider anything else. A brown haired boy, the one I recognized as being called "Mush", who stared at me in what was no doubt utter disbelief. It had only been a few hours since I'd left in a rush, I didn't blame him.

"Why the hell are youse heah?" He put it quite bluntly and I couldn't disagree with him. It wasn't like I knew.

"Well ya see, I got ta be thinkin' an'…" I tried, but it failed almost immediately.

"Mush, what have I told youse 'bout holding the door open an' cussin'-oh." Jack came up not a half a second later and stared at me. "Ya came…back?"

"Look, I ain't got a clue why, so youse just gotta believe me. I ain't sure." I hated this, I absolutely hated this, and Jack was looking at me like I'd gone insane. I totally didn't blame him, it was crap that I was even standing here. Absolute bullshit that I was here.

"You wanna talk?" He opened the door a little further, as if welcoming me in.

"I…shore." I gave in, and walked slowly into the entry hall. Mush had left, probably to go tell everyone I had returned in a mysterious twist of events, and sure enough, as we passed by what I supposed was where every boy was, and I was right, I felt eyes land on me. But Jack guided me down the hall to a small room that resembled more of an office. At some point I nearly tripped over my own two feet trying to get over the threshold that seemed to be out of my sightline, and Jack grabbed my arm and pulled me up again.

Hissing a little bit, I stood up and wiped my arm, or at least tried to. With only one eye, I seemed to manage to only just barely touch whatever I was aiming for. Jack smirked a little bit, I could see it, and yet I remained silent until he motioned for me to take a seat. The chair was old and rickety and held up by what I thought resembled twigs. But then again, I could probably be way off and they were probably just small pieces of wood. I wasn't sure if I was taking in the description of anything right anymore.

"Alright, so ya came back an hour latah an' got no idea why youse done this?" Jack had sat on the chair opposite mine. I was surprised there were even two chairs in here, and his looked just as bad as the one I had somehow managed to sit on without missing.

"Pretty much." I shook my head in frustration.

"Ya gotta understand that we are welcomin' ya in if ya need it."

Ah, there were the words I had expected the minute he'd seen me at the door. Of course they wanted me to join them, even though I was definitely not cut out for any sort of job and had probably nearly killed that young crippled kid just from dragging him all the way across Manhattan. But for some strange reason, I nodded. I was agreeing with what he said, I wanted a safer place, I wanted somewhere I was guaranteed a place to live and food and such. My biggest problem was my pride, and for another strange reason, that was gone. Absolutely and one hundred percent dead on the floor.

"That's why I'm heah." I said, almost smiling at the shock that flashed across Jack's face.

"Youse being serious?"

"I gotta be something, ain't I? Yeah, Ise am." I sighed, "I'm giving up on the whole idea of da gangs an' it ain't gonna be easy, but I ain't got nowhere else to go. Some boy talked ta me…kid named Blackie."

"You talked ta Blackie?!" Jack jumped up in his seat, now leaning toward me, or maybe away, I wasn't sure.

"Yeah, an' he suggested I do whatever I like. Musta killed my stubbornness as well."

"Fred…he around?"

"Yeah, what's it ta you?" I was mystified by this reaction, surprised at Jack's eagerness toward the older boy.

Jack was now standing, "He was the las' leader heah…sent off ta the Refuge, for a little while we was leaderless…"

"He's workin' at a bar neah the shack now. But look, I gotta…I gotta admit, I ain't exactly sure how Ise gonna take on a job that requires seeing. I still stumbling over my feets like all the time." I sank back in the chair, watching Jack carefully now. He nodded.

"We can get ya some kid to guide ya around for the first few weeks, then youse gonna have ta fend for youself. But by then ya might as well be set. Hey, Mush!" Apparently the other boy was hovering around the doorway, and Jack grabbed his arm and pulled him in. Mush was staring at me in practical amazement. I, not for the first time, and not for the last, couldn't believe he was the same age as me with the stupidity he was showing right then. Damn newsboys. "Youse gonna be Blink heah's guide, that ok with ya?"

"I..I guess." He offered a smile, and I smiled back. Maybe I could get used to this mess.

"Come on, we gotta let the others know. An' don't break the chair, Kloppman'll have my head for that one." Jack pulled me up and we were suddenly in the main room, with every boy staring at me.

I could feel the hair on my neck rising in annoyance or something, but it went down as soon as Jack formally introduced me. It was bad enough these boys had seen me angry before, now what sort of hell was I going to face for having been mean and then come back begging for forgiveness? Whatever that was, I deserved it.

"Boys, this is Kid Blink, an' he's gonna be joinin' us." He said it loud and clear, and I watched jaws drop. So I could still make a good impression by looking threatening with my one eye. Maybe, just maybe, things were starting to look better for life.

**A/N: Alas, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it is the end! I truly hope you enjoyed this story that took so long to finish, and please, if you did enjoy, review, review, review! (I will read any posted after this chapter, I promise.)**


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